by Francis Tint
Zach thought hard for a second. “An invisibility coat? Is that really possible?”
“I wouldn’t believe it before,” Corey replied incorporeally. The fresh cup of espresso that Zach had just brewed for himself levitated in midair, and the beverage started to flow down an invisible trail.
“First of all, I made that for myself. Second, please cover up. Has it ever occurred to you that I don’t need to see your digestive tract?”
“Fine. Then make me visible again.”
“Well, tell me how this happened.”
He recounted his pursuit chasing Kaitlin and described the mysterious liquid. “It’s thicker than water, almost like honey on your skin, but it dissipates really quickly. I don’t feel any pain or odd sensation.”
“So, it’s absorbed into your clothing and your body, giving you this new optical property. But it doesn’t spread, otherwise anything you touch will also become transparent,” Zach thought out loud.
“How can we remove this optical property?”
“Well, first we need to see how deep the substance has penetrated your system. Let’s cut up a piece of your clothing.”
Corey took a pair of scissors and cut off a corner of his vest. He lifted the fabric, waiting for Zach to take it from him. “Here.”
“You seem to have forgotten already. I can’t see you or your clothing. Draw something on it to mark it.”
Corey followed the instructions. He took a marker and drew a cross on the fabric. As he attempted to pass the invisible piece of cloth to Zach, the fresh black stain slowly vanished.
“Hmm… interesting. So the mysterious substance is able to alter the properties of anything that molecularly adheres to it. There goes my Plan B.”
“What was your Plan B?”
“To paint you, obviously.”
“I’m glad we’ll never get to that. How’s that even a safe solution? Here, I will mark it again. This time, grab it quickly.”
“Just put it at the corner of the table over there. After all, you’re just invisible, not immaterial.”
Zach grabbed the piece of fabric off the table, and was tempted to simply wash off the mysterious substance, maybe with some vinegar and baking soda, his favorite cleaning agents. “Well, that would be way too easy.”
“Yeah, I walked in the rain”, Corey added. “It clearly didn’t work.”
“No one asked for your opinion.” Zach proceeded to feed the invisible piece of cloth to a fabric shredder. It took a few tries since the lack of optical opacity made matters somewhat more inconvenient. Finally, the shredder caught the fabric and carried out its task.
At first, it’s as if the device was just running without producing any output. After a while, a few small threads of yellow material started to appear.
“I don’t think shredding me is a good idea.”
Zach let out a disappointed sigh at the remark. “This is good news, Corey, because it shows that whatever mysterious invisibility-inducing substance is really just attached to the surface. We just need to find a way to get it off.”
“A harmless way.”
“What a great idea, Sherlock. Now, cut me another piece.”
Chemical treatment was the obvious choice to scrub off the substance. However, none of Zach’s collection of poisons worked, not to mention the fact that half of those were highly corrosive.
Zach proceeded to try to melt off the substance. Heat would energize the material, thus weakening the adhesion, and the mysterious fluid would hopefully simply wash off. Unfortunately, this had led to no productive result except for almost setting Zach’s home on fire.
“I got one last idea,” Zach remarked. He took out a dated ultrasonic cleaner from his collection of mechanical gadgets. “Maybe sound waves would do the trick.”
He placed another piece of fabric in the machine, and turned the device on. The water started to effervesce, but the bubble would stop at the top of the water tank. “The fabric’s probably floating on top preventing the bubble to rise all the way. I need to tie it down.”
After a few attempts, Zach secured the piece of cloth and restarted the machine. The water bubbled as expected, and the duo watched in anticipation for some sort of magic trick. “Looks like it’s a bust,” said Corey dejectedly, and Zach heard retreating footsteps.
“Wait,” Zach called out. A strange glowing fluid started to appear in the tank and quickly dissipated in the bubbling container. “I think it’s working. The sound waves are destabilizing the invisibility-inducing chemical.” As if on cue, a yellow fabric cutout materialized amid the bubbling ultrasonic cleaner.
“You did it!” Zach felt a tight squeeze around his body which warmed his heart. The familiar scent of Corey’s cologne lingered around. “Let me try it on my hand.” Within minutes, Corey’s hand reemerged into existence. “Now, how about the rest?”
“I suppose we can build a giant one that will fit you. Now that I can see your hand, it’s probably easier to work together.”
The two executed the task like clockwork. Since Corey had helped Zach escape two years ago, they had been working together and had developed a strong mutual understanding. Corey had helped Zach recover his family’s fortunes and build this lab in his home. Within a few hours, a human-size ultrasonic cleaner was finally assembled.
“Let’s fill the tank up and turn the sucker on,” Zach said. He connected a hose to the machine and started the water flow. He flipped the switch on, and a gentle hum started to echo around the place. “This is sounding good. Slowly increasing the ultrasonic intensity.”
Within minutes, the entire tank was filled with effervescent water. “I hope this works.” Zach saw a floating hand climb into the large glass container. Splashes of glowing fluid started to materialize and quickly vanished in the tank. Gradually, bits and pieces of Corey’s corporeal form began to emerge and coalesce into a unified human form.
Zach turned off the device and flushed out the water. Corey stepped out the tank with his torn clothes clung tightly on his glistening skin, water dripping down his face. With his blood racing underneath his skin, Zach looked up and couldn’t help but blush at the sight.
“Can you see me? Am I still invisible?” asked Corey, as he pushed back his damp hair.
“Yes. I can see you very well,” Zach stuttered.
There was an awkward silence. “Can you pass me a towel?”
“Of course,” Zach jumped and ran away as fast as he could in his leg braces to get what was requested.
“Dude,” Tylor yelled. “Ready to talk?” He yelled at the chair with ropes tied around it.
“It’s been over ten hours,” Julia proposed. “Do you need some water? I got to give it to you. You can really hold it in.”
Their exchanges were met with silence.
“We’re talking to you. Say something!” howled Tylor.
“Do you think he’s dead?” suggested Rachael. “Maybe ten hours is too long for a person to stay in one position.”
“I have slept for longer than ten hours,” Julia answered. “He’s not dead. He’s just playing us.”
Blake stood up and took out a bucket of water from the bathroom. She splashed it against the chair. The water landed directly on the chair, as if it went right through Corey’s body.
“What! Is he now also immaterial?” Rachael asked.
“He escaped,” Blake explained plainly.
“I’m telling you, seriously,” Tylor said. “Only the guilty ones run away.”
“Damn you, Corey,” Julia muttered. “I was rooting for you.”
“Where do you think he went?” Rachael asked.
“Perhaps he went back home,” Blake speculated.
“I don’t suppose you two have exchanged home addresses,” said Julia. “Rachael, do you think you can use your IT skills and find out where he lives?”
She rushed to the door before the hallway leading to the secret communication computer. She was late on delivering her updates. As she pulled on the h
andle, she was surprised to learn that the door was locked. This was not supposed to be. She rattled on the door repeatedly, but to no avail.
She took out a hairpin and stuck it to the keyhole. That was positively more difficult than what she had expected. Tap. Tap. Tap. She heard footsteps from afar. The security guard yelled, “Is anyone down there? You’re not supposed to be there. Whoever you are, please step out.”
Her heart started to race. She tasted panic in her mouth. She couldn’t be discovered there.
The security guard went down the stairs from an abandoned lab. “This area is restricted,” he repeated, hoping whoever was hiding there would just step out and make his job easier. With one hand on the gun holder and the other holding a flashlight, he continued his way down to the locked door. The rattling stopped, putting him on even higher alert. Were they planning to jump him?
He turned the corner, and saw an undisturbed door. He tried the handle and confirmed it was indeed locked. Perhaps it had been a rat. He turned away and left.
Just before the guard had arrived, she had gotten through and relocked the door. She was hiding soundlessly behind the door, out of sight of the security guard. After he left, she hurried down the hallway to the flat door panel. The surveillance camera checked her identity, triggering the keyhole to materialize on the door panel.
She took out the skeleton key and opened the door. Placing her hand over the metallic plate, she started the computer, allowing her to input the message:
Successful in alienating Corey. Awaiting instructions.
She sent the message. A moment passed and a notification arrived:
Continue to encourage the group to investigate Hermes.
As expected, there was no sense of recognition, only a series of disconnected instructions.
After he fully had recovered his regular optical property, Corey dragged Zach along to Kaitlin’s apartment. “What are we doing here? What if she comes back?” asked Zach.
“We just crashed her home. She won’t return here, at least not right away,” said Corey. He started to scan the place with the superpower-dampening device.
“What exactly are we looking for?”
“Anything that helps find out where the kid is.”
“Ok… I guess I’ll just go over her unopened mail. Maybe I can find an address or something.” Zach proceeded to rip open the sealed envelopes. “Wow, look at this, regular large-amount monthly deposits. Seems like someone got herself a sugar daddy.”
“Who’s the payment from?”
“It’s a strange code name. Looks kind of familiar.” Zach pondered for a moment. “Oh, I remember now. It’s from Hermes. So this is what I could be making if I stayed with them.”
“You made the right call leaving them. Do you really want to be a hitman for an evil corp?”
“Preaching to the choir. You already convinced me. I left with you. You don’t need to repeat yourself.”
“Any other interesting mail?”
“Nope, just bills and ads. You? Found any invisible item?”
“No luck yet. It doesn’t look like she can make anything invisible. Otherwise, she would’ve hidden Sam in plain sight.”
“But I thought you said she poured that substance over you.”
“Very true. Maybe it’s from someone else. Someone the kidnapper is working with.”
“Oh, look at what I found, a good old agenda, in its intended shape and form. Hmm… she has an appointment this afternoon.”
“An exchange may be taking place. We’d better call backup.”
Rachael impatiently waited as Tylor fidgeted with a paperclip trying to pick the lock before him. “I feel like I’m in a movie trying to break into the bad guy’s house,” squealed Rachael. “Except if we’re actually in a movie, we’d be in by now.”
Tylor sighed with frustration, “It surely looks a lot easier on the online video tutorials.”
“I think they’re back. We should hide.”
A voice started to emerge from the hallway. “…didn’t know he has a girlfriend. Corey’s a really nice guy, a little private. Nice to know you’re arranging a surprise for him,” said the security guard approaching Corey’s unit.
“Blake’s been gone on a work trip. She specifically changed her flight to arrive one day earlier so that she can surprise her boyfriend,” Julia added. “Anyhow, thank you so much for making this happen.”
“No problem. You girls look like nice people. How long have you two been dating?” asked the security guard.
“Me?” Blake was stunned with the question.
“Yeah, you and Corey,” the security guard clarified.
“Um…,” Blake stuttered, “about…”
“Didn’t you say it was your one-year anniversary last month?” Julia interrupted.
“Yeah… it’s been a little more than a year,” Blake concluded.
“Still in the honeymoon phase. So romantic,” the security guard remarked. He unlocked the door. “There you go. Let me know if you need anything else.”
As soon as the security guard was out of sight, Rachael and Tylor sneaked back into the hallway and entered Corey’s unit. “I hope the security at my building is tighter than that,” Rachael said.
“Why are we here anyway?” asked Tylor. “I thought we wanted to find Corey. Clearly he’s not home.”
“Maybe we can find a clue or two that’ll tell us his whereabouts. Maybe we can find out more about those candidates from the Hermes clinical trials,” Julia replied. “Ooh… look at his workout equipment. Completely explains his physique.”
“He’s freakishly neat,” Rachael noted.
“He must be hiding some secret somewhere. Seriously, we just need to look harder,” Tylor protested. “Ah-ha. Jackpot! A secret file.”
“He’s shared this with us before,” Blake said. “These are all the incidents he connected to the rhombus omen.”
“No contact info anywhere,” Julia concluded. “I guess this guy is all digital, even though I can’t seem to find his laptop.”
“There must be something,” Tylor repeated. “We just got to keep looking.”
As if on cue, a standard brand ringtone went off in her pocket. “Blake speaking.”
The group arrived at a desolate riverfront, furious and ready for a fight. The platinum-blond trucker-boots stepped out with his partner in leg braces. At the very sight of Corey, Tylor charged at him against a tree like a tiger attacking a defenseless zebra. The others watched soundlessly as their tall friend lashed out his anger. Zach attempted to break up the duo, but fell on his feet.
“Stop,” Corey blocked Tylor’s frail punch. “We can still rescue the kid if we work together.”
“Why should we believe anything coming out from your mouth? Seriously, if you really are innocent, why did you break loose?”
“If I really was guilty, why did I call?”
“Anime-head does have a point,” Julia said.
“It could be a trap!” suggested Rachael. “Bad guys in movies do that a lot.”
“Too late for that advice, sweetie,” Julia noted. “If it’s a trap, we’ve already walked right into it.”
“Hello? Some help over here if you guys are done fighting?” Zach pleaded.
Blake approached the stranger and helped him up. She placed her hand on Tylor’s shoulder, signaling him to back off. “Let’s say we would like to give you the benefit of the doubt. Why did you call, Corey?”
“We went over to her place again. The kidnapper’s place. We found her planner. She’s meeting someone here. I think she’s making an exchange.”
“Why do you think she’s exchanging the child?” Julia asked.
“We’ve seen her place. She’s not planning to raise a child. If she’s not keeping him, she must’ve kidnapped him for something else, most likely money. And since she hasn’t asked for a ransom, someone else must be footing the bill, most likely Hermes.”
“It fits the MO,” Zach added, “using the Capaci
fy candidates to do their dirty work.”
“So what’s your plan?” Tylor demanded.
“Try to stop the exchange before it happens,” Corey answered.
“And do we even know what she looks like?” Julia inquired. “What if she stays invisible?”
Zach took out a binocular from his pocket. “That’s why I came prepared with this. Same tech as my superpower-dampening device. This should allow me to spot her. I’ve also strengthened the signal on my device. It should disable her power from a longer range.” He scanned the area over and over again, at first with not much discovery.
“Sitting on that bench looking over the river,” Zach said. “The woman with the hat. That’s her. The kid is beside her. She is not invisible, but she has the invisibility coat around the kid.”
“It makes sense for her not to stay invisible,” Julia added. “How are you supposed to make a trade if the other party can’t see you?”
Tylor clenched his fist, ready for a fight. “What are we waiting for then? Let’s go get them!”
“Calm your horses, hothead,” Zach interjected. “First of all, she’ll probably kick your ass. Second, that will just tip her off. Do I need to remind you again? She can go invisible any moment. We need to do this with stealth. She hasn’t seen me before, so I can be the big boss in a wheelchair. Adds to the flair, don’t you think? All I need now is a sidekick partner.”
“Who can be your partner? She’s seen us all before,” Tylor added.
Quickly donning a long black wig and a pair of shades, Julia announced with a pretentious British accent, “That’s not a problem, mate. Shall we get going, boss?”
“I wonder what else she carries in her purse,” Rachael said.
“You can leave the kid with me now,” Zach spoke with a slow and deep voice.
“Sorry, you must have mistaken me for someone else,” replied Kaitlin.
“You’ve done a lovely job,” Julia added. “Now, if you would follow me, we have what we promised you.”
“I haven’t seen Benjamin Jones before,” said Kaitlin, “but you look way too young to be him. Who are you?”
“How flattering,” Zach replied. “What can I say? Hermes products are wonderful.”